Method of making shoes.



` G. P.. PRESBY.

METHOD 0F MAKING SHOES.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 28. 1915.

1449;?94 Patentedept. 128,191?.

j/fg.

iol

' far as it relates to l rof the heel-seat portlon into the angle 'of the METHOD 0F MAKING SHOES,

Original application led February Specification of Letters Patent.

5, 1915, Serial No. 6,255'. Divided Patented Sept.. t8, i911?,

\ 1915. serial mames; t

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE P. PRESBY, a citizen of the United States, and resident of West Bridgewater, in the countylof Plymouth and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of Making Shoes, of which the following is a specification. l

This invention relates to a method of making shoes, and is a division of my copending application, 6,255, led February, 1915, for improvement in counter stiffeners.

The counter stiffener illustrated and described in the said copending application is the basis of the method which forms the subject-matter of this application. One characteristic feature of the counter stiifener 'is that its heel-seat portion is capable of being rendered soft and pliable by a moderate degree of heat. lt is composed of a suitable absorbent material and is impregnated. with a suitable sizing or stiflening substance that becomes soft and plastic when heated.

My present improved method contemplates broadly the idea of using a counter stiffener having a heel-seat portion the forward extremities of which are suiciently far forward to be caught and sewn by the inseam stitches; and it further contemplates the idea of making the said heel-seat portion of absorbent material, impregnating'Y said absorbent material with sizing which may be readily softened, softening the said heel-seat portion preparatory to lasting, lasting the heel portion of the upper while saidl heel-seat portion is soft and limber, and forming the extremities, of said heel-seat portion in'to the angleeformed by the lip and feather or bvrthe shoulder and feather of the insole whilek the said extremities are in a soft limber condition, 'to the end that the said extremities may be soft limber condition, to conform to the said angle and thereby permit the several elements which form the between substance to be compactly joined when the inseam is sewn. l have mentioned a sizing substance which is adapted to be rendered soft by a moderate degree of heat. Although this is the kind of sizing which at present ll consider my present method, so

the most desirable,

forming the extremities hand,

caused, while in a insole, contemplates broadly any kind of sizing that becomes soft and plastic when heated moderately or whenftreated with a solvent. So far as the principle of this method is concerned, it does not matter whether the entire counter stiener is composed of 'absorbent nated with sizing, or whether only the heelseat portion is so composed and impregnated.

or reasons which arenot involved in the fundamental principle of the method as hereinbefore stated, ll prefer to make the counter stiffener in two parts, and to use different materials for said parts, whereby the body or stiffening portion of the device may be made of a piece of relatively stili material, such as leather, while the heel-seat portion may be made of relatively soft absorbent materialand impregnated with any suitable sizing for the purpose hereinbefore mentioned. rlhe two pieces thus used maybe joined by any suitable means, such as stitches. In either event, whether the article be made of two pieces as stated, orwhether it be made of a single piece of absorbent material and impregnated with a sizing. substance, the heel-seat portion would be softened when the laster is about to perform the lasting operation; and while the heel-seat portion is in axsoft limber condition the shoe would be lasted, the heel-seat portion ofthe stifener being turned inwardly with the other elements in the course of lasting the heel portion of the shoe. lf the sizing is one which may be softened by a liquid solvent, it would in many cases remain in a soft limber condition for a sufficient/.length of time to include the lasting operation and the inseam-sewing operation.- 0n the other if the sizing" substance is one which would be softened by heat, it would set before 'the inseam-sewing operation would be performed,l but that would not matter pro'- vided the said extremities were held in their formed-in condition while the sizing set. lf the sizing substance is one which would be softened by heat, it would preferably be a substance whichwould have a relatively low melting point in order to permit the desiredV softening bv a moderate' degree of heat without injuring the leather or the lasters hands.

-Of -the accompanying drawings, which' illustrate the lnreferre'd form of counter sti'- material` and impregaal ener and the manner in which such counter stiifener would be used in practising this invention:

Figure 1 represents an elevation of a counter-stiffener blank.

Fig. 2 represents a perspective view of an unmolded blank curved to permit assembling with the other elements of a shoe.

Fig. 3 represents a perspective view of a molded counter stiffener.

Fig. 4 represents a longitudinal section of the heel portion of a last together with the shoe elements which are assembled for lasting, an unmolded counter stiener blank being included and arranged in position to be molded by the lasting operation.

Fig. 5 represents a view similar to Fig. 4 showing the shoe elements as having been lasted, and the counter stiffener as having been molded by suchlasting operation.

Fig. 6 represents a cross section, on a larger scale, of a portion of a welted shoe on t-he last. The plane of this section is in the vicinity of the plane where the shank and heel portions meet, the forward portion of the counter-stiifening portion being shown caught by the inseam stitches.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts 'wherever they occur.

The counter stiifener comprises two members 10 and 11 which are lapped with relation to each other, the lapped portions being fastened together by stitches 12. I

have shown two rows of such stitches, these rows being substantially parallel to 'the edges of the lapped portions. The lower edge of the member 10 is indicated at 18 and the upper edge of the member 11 is indicated at 14. In practice, the edge 13 will be arranged substantially contiguous to the edge of the insole 15 and the counter stilfener will preferably be arranged so that the lapped portion of 11 will-be outside of the portion 10. The reason for this arrangement is that the adhesive stienin substance with which the member 11 1s impregnated, as hereinafter explained, penetrates absorbent bodies very readily and dis colors them, and whenever it reaches the lining of the shoe it penetrates and discolors the latter. If the discoloration occurred at points which could be observed when the shoe is finished it would operate against the salability of the shoe. The lapped portion of the stiffening member 10, when arranged between the lining and the lapped portion of the member 11, prevents such discoloration of the lining at the points mentioned.

The member 10 is composed of any suit* able stiff material, such as leather, and the member 11 is composed of a suitable absorbent material such as wool felt and is impregnated with suitable moisture-proof stiii'ening substance which at ordinary temperatures will be comparatively stiff though i used alone, or it may be blended with a' suitable relatively hard asphalt, which will melt at approximately 225o F. Ihe two hydrocarbons above mentioned may be blended to form a compound which will melt at 200o F. andwill become soft and pliable at substantially 160o F. and becomes tacky whensoft. Such compound is adhesive and in this respect it reinforces the connection between the members 10 and 11, and stiffens the pulled-over portions of the lining and upper and causes said portions to stick to the pulled-over portion of the member 11.

A blank, such as that shown by Fig.l, may be molded before being assembled with the other elements of a shoe, but, as a preliminary step to performing the molding operation, the blank, or at least the member l1, should be heated sufficiently to soften the stifening substance. If the member 11 be heated to a temperature of approximately 180o F., the stifening substance will be softened to such extent that the member 11 will be limber and may be molded with great facility to form a heel-seat flange as indicated at 16 in Fig. 3. If the sti'ening substance be permitted to cool while the counter stiffener is in the form shown by Fig. 3, the heel-seat portion will retain such form but will not lose all resilience or flexi- 1 a shoe upper and lining are indicated respectively at 18 and 19. Assuming that the member 11 is heated and thereby rendered limber when assembled as shown by Fig. 4, and that the lasting operation is performed while the member 11 is limber, the member 11 will be molded by the lasting operation, will become stuck to the pulledover portions of the upper and lining, and

upon cooling will set in its molded condition.

One purpose in arranging the lapped marginal portion of the member 10 inside the lapped marginal portion of the member 11 is to keep the tougher material (leather) against the lining of the shoe where the wear occurs as between the wearers foot and the counter stiifener. Another purpose is to keep the inner surface of the counter stiffener smooth. If the edge 14 of the member 11 were arranged upon the inner side of the member 10, it would come in contact with the lining and would wear away the lining more rapidly. There is still another reason for the arrangement in question. The vconnection between the members 10 and 11 depends upon the stitches l2. In consequence of arranging the lapped portion of the member 10 upon the inner side of the member l1, the member 11 is bent upon the edge 13 as shown by Figs. 5 and 6, said edge relieving the stitches of some of the stress to which they are subjected when the member 11 is drawn. inwardly and when `the shoe is expanded by the wearers foot,

A very serious difficulty in kthe manufacture of boots and shoes has been in forming the inseam. where the counter stiifener is caught by the inseam stitches. The material of which most counter stif'feners are made is so sti1 that it would be impossible to draw, tuck, or otherwise form the counter stiEener snugly into the angle formed by the lip and feather or by the lip and shoulder, as the case may be, of the insole. If the material of the counter stiener is too sti', it will bridge across said angle and leave a cavity, causing the shoe to bulge at the sides of the shank portion and setting the inseam stitches so far out that when the outsole is Y stitched on, the outsole stitches are necessarily set out beyond the desired line. The outsole stitches are thus, in a great many cases, forced `to lie on or beyond the line on which the outsole is to be trimmed, and, in any case, the shoe does not fit snugly against the shank portion of the foot. These diiculties are the inevitable result of the inability to form the ends of the counter stiifener compactly into the angle of the insole. I overcome these difliculties by using a counter stifener such as that hereinbefore described and by proceeding with the lasting operation as follows.

I soften the sizing in the heel-seat portion 11 of the counter stifener before lasting the shoe. 'Ihis softening operation will be caused by heating or by applying a liquid solvent, according to the character of the sizing employed. I then last the shoe, preferably the heel portion first in accordance with the usual practice.' The lastingoperation causes the counter stiener to conform to the shape of the heel portion of the last.

plates or wipers which are arranged and operated to press, tuck, or other-wise form the pulled-over material into the angle formed by the lip 22 and feather 23 of the insole. If such a machine is employed, the said plates or wipers may be left in position to hold the ends of the member 1l snugly in the said angle while the forepart of the shoe is being lasted. If the sizing in the member l1 is the kind which is softened by heating, it will set in the course of lasting the forepart of the shoe, so that the formed-in portions of the counter stiffener will have acquired the shape of the angle of the insole and will have stuckto the insole before the forming-in devices are removed. If the forming-in operation is performed otherwise than by plates or wipers of the character mentioned, the formed-in portions may be secured temporarily by driving tacks into the said angle and leaving said tacks until the sizing has set.

If the sizing is the kind which requires a liquid solvent, and if it is going to be permitted to set before the inseam is sewn, tacks may be driven into the said angle to hold the formedin portions as hereinbefore stated. When a sizing which requires a liquid solvent is used, the inseam would, in some'cases, be sewn before the sizing has set, and in such cases the formed-in portions of the member 1l would be drawn into the angle still more snugly by the tightening of the inseam stitches 21. The same effect could be produced in the case of a sizing which requires heat, by steaming the formed-in portions of the member 11 immediately prior to sewing the inseam.

The drawings show a welt shoe, the welt strip of which is indicated at 20. It will be understood, however, that the ability of the softened member ll to conform to the angle of the insole applies to turned shoes as well as to welt shoes.

I claim:

l. In the art of shoe-making, the herein I described method, which consistsin softening the sizing of a sized heel-seat portion of a counter stiffener of an unsewed shoe, forming the end portions of said heel-seat portion into the angle between the feather and lip, of the insole while said sizing in them is soft, and holding said formed-in portions in said angle while said sizing in them sets.

2. In the art of shoe-making, the herein described method, which consists in softening the sizing of a sized heel-seat portion of a counter stiifener of an unlasted shoe, lasting the shoe and wiping the end portions of said heel-seat portion into the angle between the feather and lip of the insole while said sizing in them is soft, and holding said portions in said angle while said sizingin them sets.

3. In the art of shoe-making, the herein described method, which consists in lasting the shoe with a counter stiffener Whose heelseat portion is composed of limp absorbent material and impregnated with a heated adhesive pliable substance Which hardens at ordinary atmospheric temperatures, forming the end portions of said heel-seat portion into the angle between the feather and lip of the insole While such adhesive` substance in said'end portions is heated and pliable, forming the upper into the angle formed by such formed-in end portions, holding the upper against such formed-in end portions While said adhesive substance in the latter sets, and sewing such contiguous formed-in portions of the upper and said heel-seat member to the insole.

In testimony whereof I have attxed my signature.

GEORGE P. PREsBY. 

